Siege of Drogheda

The Siege of Drogheda (3-11 September 1649) was a major battle of Oliver Cromwell's conquest of Ireland during the English Civil War. The 3,100-strong garrison of Drogheda, led by the cavalier Arthur Aston, refused to surrender to the 12,000-strong Parliamentarian army, and the Parliamentarians assaulted the southern and eastern breaches in the wall. As more and more Parliamentarian troops headed through the breaches, the Royalist and Irish forces were forced to retreat across the Boyne River or into the Millmount Fort, and the Parliamentarians proceeded to sack the city. Aston was beaten to death with his own wooden leg, and up to 800 civilians and several captured soldiers were massacred. Cromwell would build a negative reputation for himself in Ireland due to his acts of violence against the locals.